Lady Bulldogs finish up with 14 wins on diamond

KENNETT-- The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs softball team defeated the Kennett Lady Indians 3-1 in eight innings of play to wrap up their regular season Monday afternoon in Kennett.

The Lady Bulldogs were once again led by Sarah Hopson on the mound and Mary Deason at the plate.

Hopson pitched all eight innings while striking out two batters, walking none, and allowing only six hits and one earned run.

"Sarah (Hopson) went down there tonight and pitched a really good game," Sikeston head coach Tiffany King said. "Her riser looked really good this evening. She caused a lot of girls to pop up or line out and she stayed very focus. That kind of play is definitely what we need going into districts."

Deason had strong showing at the plate Monday, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and all three of the Lady Bulldogs RBIs.

Deason's first RBI came in the fourth inning when her double drove in Krystal Henson to put Sikeston up 1-0.

The Lady Bulldogs held that led until the bottom of the seventh when Hopson gave up her lone run to tie the game 1-1. Hopson and her defense were able to get out of a one-out bases loaded jam with the go ahead runner on third when two Kennett batters hit pop ups for the second and third outs and forced extra innings.

Emily Martin and Henson were able to reach base in the top of the eighth and Deason's second double was good for 2 RBIs and put Sikeston up 3-1.

"Mary (Deason) hit the ball really well today," King said of her clean-up batter. "She is seeing the ball well and really making a big impact for us."

"We continue to hit the ball well up and down the line up," King said.

King points to her defense as a game-changing attribute in Monday's contest and the season in general.

"We are right where we need to be on defense," she said. "Stats don't show how hard our girls had to work today and how we played on defense. We really stepped up today and played great defense. That's a very positive thing going into districts."

The Lady Bulldogs finish their regular season with a record of 14-8, something in which King is very pleased.

"This is where the program needs to be," she said. "We have a lot of girls coming back next year. We have great girls on this team in every respect. They work very hard and it has showed this year. It is great to see Sikeston softball turn around the way it has. I'm very proud of our girls, but I keep telling them, 'we are not done yet'. We would like that district title."

Sikeston will vie for the district title beginning Wednesday when they face Jackson in the first round of the tournament at 6 p.m. at Bacon Park in Poplar Bluff.

Junior varsity coach Alan Scheeter feels that his team did not play up to its potential Monday.

"We got beat by a pretty good team, but we did not play to our full potential," Scheeter said. "We were battling some injuries, which is no excuse, but it did have an effect. If we would have played like we have in the past few games it could have been a different outcome."

The Poplar Bluff running attack proved too much for the Bulldog defense to handle, with all four Mule touchdowns coming on the ground.

"Our tackling was not especially good tonight, that's an area we need to work on," Scheeter said. "We didn't play as physical as we have been on defense. We played very hard, but just not as physical as we have been."

Both of Sikeston's two touchdowns came through the air. The first, a 15-yard strike from Sam Eriwn to Eldridge Gibson with 5:50 left in first quarter. The second was a 60-yard pass from freshman quarterback Luke Keefer to Tanner Bryant with 8:30 left in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs move to a record of 5-1 with Monday's loss, and Scheeter feels the season has been extremely productive.

"We're doing a good job overall," he said. "We are getting these kids some good experience. These kids are learning and playing hard. They come out wanting to win. Really, thats all you can ask of them."

The junior varsity Bulldogs will return to the field next Monday in Caruthersville at 6 p.m.